I think it’s safe to say that we were suffering from culture shock when visiting Lee Avenue in Williamsburg (part of Brooklyn). In the meantime I have unearthed different sources so it’s kind of hard to decide on the population size: between 45,000 and 70,000 followers of the ultraorthodox Jewish community of the Hasidim, mainly the Satmar Hasidim, named after the town of Satu Mar in Hungary, live in Williamsburg.

I had a hard time taking pictures and took all of them with the camera dangling at hip height. But maybe you can still get an idea of the not very colorful hustle and bustle on the street. The stroller density was extremely high – maybe that is part of the reason why the population numbers differ because they must be on an almost exponential rise. I’ve found the following video on youtube. A non-Hasidim has documented some celebration in his neighborhood in Williamsburg. The comments are also quite interesting in that they reflect how „mainstream America“ views this community.

We did wonder how a way of life so different can be upheld for such a long time in an environment that is teeming with lifestyles of all kinds. On the one hand, it seems to make more sense to encapsulate yourself in rural Pennsylvania as the Amish do, on the other hand, maybe it is just the very diversity of NYC that allows a tolerance for such extremes. And of course we wondered whether young people weren’t trying to break out. As it turns out, the memoir of Deborah Feldman on just this subject was published in February this year:

Oprah also did several 45-minute documentaries on the Hasidic communities – these videos are not available to users in Germany so I pass on linking them up here. But I’ve also come across a 90-minute documentary called A Life Apart that portrays the different communities in NYC. I’ve ordered it so we will see.

Blog per E-Mail folgen

Mary’s Home Cooking

Delicious food from Ghana prepared with love

Please note

All content except where stated (including text, photographs and designs) are the copyright of Barbara Kürsten (The Knackered Grouse). My artwork is shared for personal inspiration only and may not be copied for publication or contest entry.